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http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-chat-with-alex-kennedy-122812/


Deven

Do you think Deron Williams is a coach killer?

Alex Kennedy

I don’t think so. While he was partially responsible for Jerry Sloan leaving the Utah Jazz, I’ve been told that Al Jefferson also played a large role in that. I don’t blame him for Avery Johnson either because it sounds like this was Mikhail Prokhorov’s decision and everyone was blindsided. The players didn’t see this coming, from what I’ve heard.

This has been my pet theory as well, that replacing Boozer with Jefferson just never clicked for either Sloan or D-Will and frustrated both of them.

Say what you like about Boozer, when he played he was nearly the ideal 4-man for Sloan's offense.

I think he is wrong or making stuff up because there is no reason a crap player like BIg Al would have effect on who is your head coach. KOC did a good job as GM but made a huge mistake trading for Big Al's big contract in attempt to appease DWill.

That's grasping at straws right there.... no way AJ directly influenced Sloan leaving. Jefferson is one of the best C's we've ever had in a Jazz uniform, dunno why that'd make Sloan want to leave more...

How does such a nice guy get blamed for so much?

UTJazzFan_Echo1 wrote:That's grasping at straws right there.... no way AJ directly influenced Sloan leaving. Jefferson is one of the best C's we've ever had in a Jazz uniform, dunno why that'd make Sloan want to leave more...

Best C's we have ever had...U have to be kidding me. He is a stats guy period. Points without no substance. The Jazz have a better record right now if he had not played at all this season. Addition by Subtraction (See how GSW improved with No Ellis).

Give me Mark Eaton, Ostertag, Ben Poquette, Any 7 footer that can stand up str8 and lift their arms over their head instead this crap of a BBall player.

UTJazzFan_Echo1 wrote:That's grasping at straws right there.... no way AJ directly influenced Sloan leaving. Jefferson is one of the best C's we've ever had in a Jazz uniform, dunno why that'd make Sloan want to leave more...

At the very least, I'd say Al had a significant indirect effect on Sloan's decision to leave. Even if you're a supporter of Al's game (I'm not, but I'll leave that for another time), you'd be nuts not to admit that Al was a pretty abysmal fit in Sloan's offense. That had a lot to do with Deron's frustration, which, if rumors are to be believed, had a lot to do with Sloan's decision. I think there's a good chance Al factored in to Sloan's decision more directly than that (again, aside from being a piss poor defender, he was an ABYSMAL fit in Sloan's offense), but, even if you disagree with that, you at least have to concede that he factored in indirectly.

reapaman wrote:How does such a nice guy get blamed for so much?

+1

HolyToledo12 wrote:

UTJazzFan_Echo1 wrote:That's grasping at straws right there.... no way AJ directly influenced Sloan leaving. Jefferson is one of the best C's we've ever had in a Jazz uniform, dunno why that'd make Sloan want to leave more...

Best C's we have ever had...U have to be kidding me. He is a stats guy period. Points without no substance. The Jazz have a better record right now if he had not played at all this season. Addition by Subtraction (See how GSW improved with No Ellis).

Give me Mark Eaton, Ostertag, Ben Poquette, Any 7 footer that can stand up str8 and lift their arms over their head instead this crap of a BBall player.

actually, this season the jazz are 9-2 (or something close to that) when big al scores 20+. when he scores, we win, when he doesn't we lose. that is quite the opposite of points with no substance.

I think they're 6-2 in such games.

But that's such a meaningless TV-analyst stat. It says that in games where the Jazz's primary offensive option scores 20+ points the Jazz are likely to win. What a shock! If only he'd scored two more points against Golden State. I can't believe Ty didn't get him one more bucket!

What would be more interesting is to look at Al's usage rate and compare it to the Jazz's winning (or better yet, their offensive efficiency) and see if there's any correlation. Last time I looked (after 20 or so games) there wasn't any significant relationship between the two. I'll run the regression analysis again if anyone is interested.

Jefferson is the reason Kanter can't finish inside...
Jefferson is the reason Sloan left...
Jefferson is the reason the Lakers got Howard...
Jefferson is the reason Jordan didn't get called for the pushoff...
Jefferson is the reason your ex won't answer your calls...
Jefferson is the reason your Dad isn't proud of you...

The guy is our best player, and provides the key to a successful playoff offense. But all anyone wants to talk about is three point shooting. Priorities...

Luigi wrote:...and provides the key to a successful playoff offense.

This is true for one of the teams on the court.

Back to the topic: this specific criticism seems less about Al and more about Kevin O'Connor. It's about the effect that trading for Al Jefferson had on the Jazz and Jerry Sloan.

For all we know KOC is the real reason Sloan resigned.

I think they're 6-2 in such games.

just checked - it is 9-3 when scoring 18+

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/al_jefferson/game_by_game_stats.html

StocktonShorts wrote:

Luigi wrote:...and provides the key to a successful playoff offense.

This is true for one of the teams on the court.

Back to the topic: this specific criticism seems less about Al and more about Kevin O'Connor. It's about the effect that trading for Al Jefferson had on the Jazz and Jerry Sloan.

For all we know KOC is the real reason Sloan resigned.

Snarky. But when it comes to slow it down, playoff style basketball, a post presence like Jefferson is the way to win. Has Phoenix taught us nothing?

Al uses possessions below league average. Nuff said?

Luigi wrote:

StocktonShorts wrote:

Luigi wrote:...and provides the key to a successful playoff offense.

This is true for one of the teams on the court.

Back to the topic: this specific criticism seems less about Al and more about Kevin O'Connor. It's about the effect that trading for Al Jefferson had on the Jazz and Jerry Sloan.

For all we know KOC is the real reason Sloan resigned.

Snarky. But when it comes to slow it down, playoff style basketball, a post presence like Jefferson is the way to win. Has Phoenix taught us nothing?

This is just ridiculous. I'd take a Nash-led Phoenix team over Big Al in the playoffs every single time. I don't really get where you're coming from.

JazzD15 wrote:Al uses possessions below league average. Nuff said?

he also turns the ball over WAY below league average. nuff said?

Luigi wrote:

StocktonShorts wrote:

Luigi wrote:...and provides the key to a successful playoff offense.

This is true for one of the teams on the court.

Back to the topic: this specific criticism seems less about Al and more about Kevin O'Connor. It's about the effect that trading for Al Jefferson had on the Jazz and Jerry Sloan.

For all we know KOC is the real reason Sloan resigned.

Snarky. But when it comes to slow it down, playoff style basketball, a post presence like Jefferson is the way to win. Has Phoenix taught us nothing?

The Suns got further than Big Al ever has.

The Suns taught us that run-and-gun basketball doesn't get it done in the playoffs, even in it's best form.

The Jazz aren't choosing between a prime Steve Nash and Al Jefferson. I never said they were, and I hope that's not your best try to understand my point. The choices the Jazz do have involve giving shots to the likes of Mo Williams, Foye, and Hayward, or to Al Jefferson. I made the claim that successful playoff offenses need a legitimate post presence. Our usage percentage should reflect that, and so should our feasible future plans.

Al is not magician but he is not the reason why we sucks, last season was surprisingly good because of his presence in paint, this year we have new guys we are not so one dimensional yet things dont look a bit better and main reason for that is our poor game coaching. For goodness sake you want to blame some one else than Corbin blame Foye, he is the worst def player i ever saw, even Steve Nash could give him a lesson how to guard